


The Best Of Times

by supercasey



Series: Solider DCU AU [1]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Accidental Drug Use, Aliens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Army, Army, Assassins, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Christmas, Corporal Punishment, Depression, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Government Experimentation, Heroes, Holidays, Loyalty, M/M, Mental Abuse, Mercenaries, Murder, Mystery, Never Giving Up, PTSD, Past Drug Use, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Self Confidence Issues, Soldiers, Space Marines, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, War Era, self hate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-04 21:57:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercasey/pseuds/supercasey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soldier AU. Dick Grayson was the gypsie, circus freak, orphan who lied about his age to get into the army at the age of fourteen. Garfield Logan is the freak who's family was murdered in a horrible accident in Africa. Vince Stone was the jock with a tragic relationship ending and dealt with parent abuse as a child. Kori Anders was the alien from another planet who was somehow thrown into this god awful war. Roy Harper was the boy raised by rich men but born to poor men, who has given up more then you'd think. Wallace West was the abused red head with an issue in learning to shut his mouth. Rachael Roth was the girl who's father was an alcoholic and mother had committed suicide when she was a little girl in front of her. Somehow, despite all of this, these soldiers are being pulled into a strange new war on an alien planet, constantly facing aggressive aliens, betrayal, depression, romance, trauma, dirty jokes and other armies trying to kill them. Can the team pull through, or tear each other apart before the other army even gets to them? Inspired by Red Vs Blue by Roosterteeth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Man On A Mission And The Gypsie Boy

Roy Harper, stoic as usual, walked down the many winding hallways calmly as he hurried to Command's conference room, where he would be briefed on his latest mission. He had been a solider for two years, now a Sargent, but still held a bit of his private like quirks, such as calling everyone above him sir or miss very politely. He was now nineteen years old, looking into getting onto the battle field soon to aid his fellow soldiers. But to be called by Command? That was an offer Harper could never give up, especially since he had only become a Sargent two months ago, he felt he needed to prove himself to Command now, to show just how good of a choice they made in making Roy Harper a Sargent. As the young soldier entered the white room, he was greeted by three computer screens, all showing different people. One was a business man, Bruce Wayne, a large provider and ex-soldier to the army of earth. One was Selina Kyles, a young woman specializing in aliens and felines... and alien felines mixes probably, Harper wasn't sure, he'd ask later maybe. The last one was in full body armor, but his identity was clear. Clark Kent, head general of all of the armies of earth. Whatever this was, it was big... really big.

"Hello, Harper." Clark Kent greeted as Harper finally relaxed a bit. "I'm sure you're wondering why you've been called here today."

Harper nodded. "Sir, yes, sir!" He said proudly, showing his respect for the general. "Sir, if its no trouble, will I be placed on the battle field, sir?"

"No need to be so formal, Harper." Kent told the young man, chuckling softly. "We need you as the Sargent for a special group of youths, our latest troop. Your skills match the criteria needed to care and direct such a team into battle and to protect your base of operations."

Bruce Wayne nodded in agreement. "You'll be seeking out these soldiers from around the world. We'll give you all the information we have on them as well, background stories, ranks, all of the things you'll need to know when training and finding them." 

Now Selina spoke. "You will also run into several different aliens on your journey off of earth, many will assist you... and most will try to rip you apart as soon as they see that red, white and blue flag. If you have any choice, stop and try to negotiate with aliens you come across. Remember, they're people too, they just look different."

"Also, please note that when you finally seek out these soldiers for your mission, more then likely most of them will be hard to find and or hard to get. Not only do a large chunk of these soldiers want nothing to do with us any further, but they also have undergone large amounts of trauma from this war." Bruce added, looking mysteriously knowing. "Be careful Harper."

"Yes sir!" Harper replied as he nodded to the leaders respectively. "Is there anything else any of you need of me before I seek out my team?"

Bruce sighed deeply, then stared at Harper, his icy blues filled with grief. "The first soldier you need to find is Dick Grayson... he's my adopted son. He ran away years ago to join the army when he was fourteen and got in. I need you to be careful around him... he's had a dark past."

Harper looked astonished. "Fourteen!? Excuse me, but is that even remotely alright, sir? He's underage by four full years!"

"We know. It was hard on everyone, but he had no other choice. Its... complicated, Harper. You're excused, the papers and plane tickets will be sent to your room at once. If you have anymore questions, please contact us through the front desk phones." Kent explained, then shut down all three computer screens.

Roy cussed lightly under his breath as he left the room, a fourteen year old boy, was Command completely out of there minds!? Well, they might be, but still, a child wasn't meant to fight a war meant for adult. Either way, it seemed like Command needed this kid for this troop. As Roy reached his room, he dug through a stack of folders, each labeled for different plans and soldiers secret files. Looking into Grayson's, Roy was surprised to see that Dick had been born and raised for six years in the circus before a horrible accident ended his whole family's lives. So, maybe these guys WERE traumatized after all, and here Roy had thought it was just to spook him.

The privates profile was pretty sketchy to be honest, alot of missing months that weren't documented and alot of drugs used on him during testing. the soldier, Grayson, had signed up for government testing. Judging by the charts, it hadn't ended well. It showed that the kid had only been in the army for one year, meaning he was now fifteen years old, three years underage. But, if Command wanted him in this project, then Harper would just have to do it, even if he didn't feel it was right.

It was three hours before Harper was teleported to Gotham City, however, Harper was completely surprised by where he was placed in. The streets were grimy and mostly deserted, but those there were all shady characters, eying people like rabid dogs. In the alleyways were people, from thirteen to twenty seven, all stoned or drunk in the grime, breathing shallowly as they looked completely dead or dying. It was a horrifying sight. Harper had to remind himself that he was looking for Dick Grayson, he wasn't here to cause trouble or help people, no matter how much he wanted to do the later. After a few long minutes of walking, Harper found Grayson.

The kid looked dead almost. He wasn't stoned or drunk by the looks of it, but held dark bags under his baby blue eyes that shimmered with unfallen tears and pain beyond measure. He had scars all over him, some looked old, most looked new. He was malnourished, his ribs being easy to see through the torn up and filthy T-shirt that the ex-soldier wore. Grayson's raven colored hair now looked grimy and oily, not a good sign. He was laying on the ground, clutching his chest from the cold of fall in Gotham. The only way Harper recognized him was from old pictures showing the kids eyes and hair color, a combo you couldn't miss, plus, the soldier still wore parts of his old uniform, put only the top jacket and jeans. As Harper approached Grayson, he suddenly watched as the boy fell asleep, obviously sick and had no more energy in him. So, Harper shook the boys shoulder, awakening him in an instant.

"What?" Grayson asked angrily, he sounded awful and had yellowish teeth, his breath was even worse. "Are you an angel?" The kid asked as he peered even closer. "Am I finally fucking dead, about time."

"No, Grayson. You're being called back into the war, Command needs you." Harper explained, a bit taken aback by Grayson's excitement to die.

Grayson sighed heavily, rolling over in the trash he laid in and cursed loudly. "Goddammit! I went to Hell, didn't I?"

"You're not dead, Grayson." Harper explained. "You're being called onto the front lines is all."

"That is Hell." Grayson explained angrily, then added: "And its Dick! I don't like being called Grayson, got it, punk?"

Harper sighed heavily, this was harder then he thought. "Either you come with me without trouble or I carry you to Command like a two year old, your choice." He announced, he didn't want to threaten the younger boy, but dang it, the kid was fucking stubborn.

Grayson thought it over for a few minutes. "Carry me, I can hardly move as it is." He decided, not at all offended by being carried.

With a sigh, Harper easily picked up the boy, who felt to be around seventy to eighty pounds at the most. "Jesus, what have you been eating, dirty?" He joked, but seriously hoped that the soldier hadn't gone that low.

"I dunno. Anything edible... I think that moldy bread from yesterday was bad though... I feel dizzy." Grayson explained, swaying a bot as he was held on Harper's back with the older mans arms wrapped around Grayson's legs. "So... why does Command need me, I'm kind of a mess if they haven't noticed."

"Top secret mission, they need specially trained men and woman for this mission, I've been placed in charge and told to seek you all out. You're first... glad I came in time though." Harper explained.

As the other fell silent, Harper realized that Grayson was asleep and sighed sadly. His newest recruit would need alot of work to get back into shape, but in time he'd be able to be a soldier once more. "I'll make a soldier out of you yet, Rookie." Harper announced quietly as he hurried to a teleporting station.

To be continued soon... please comment!


	2. Throwing Stones Through Glass Windows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harper finds Grayson, but in poor condition. But now he must find Vince Stone, will it be as hard as getting Grayson, or harder?

It was noon when Roy Harper was awoken three days later by Dick Grayson, who seemed wide awake. It had been a mere three days since Harper dragged Grayson out of the ghettos of Gotham City. The kid had barely gained any weight, and still seemed to be sick, but otherwise, he was fine. Harper shook his head as he awoke, shaking off his sleep as he looked over at Grayson, who was struggling to do a handstand. As he did this, a sudden thought returned to Harper. Oh, right, the kid was from the circus as an acrobat before his life went to total Hell. Speaking of Hell, Harper had more orders now, to seek out Vince Stone as his next recruit. According to the report, the man was staying in Star City as a cashier... with little success. The man had been used, like Dick, for government projects. He was changed alot, parts of his body being used and now he was half robot. Apparently, the guy only entered the tests to save his own life after being nearly ripped apart in an explosion. So, the government decided to save him... but at a price, now he was half robot and more or less unable to live his life.

It mentioned briefly of Stone trying to make his way into the big leagues of boxing and wrestling, but sadly, he was never successful. But even worse was now it was impossible for Stone to try and sign up, since his robotic functions made him too powerful to fight normal people. In all honesty, Harper felt bad for Stone. But right now, Stone was being called into war by Command... and Harper always completed orders.

"Grayson." Harper said loudly, making Grayson return to walking on two feet, but stumbled a bit as he did so. "We're going soon, to find a mister Vince Stone."

Grayson glared at Harper. "Why can't I be called mister?"

Harper smirked at the far younger soldier. "Because, you're only fifteen, you're lucky I haven't refused to train you, rookie."

Grayson rolled his bright blues and landed on his back onto his bed in the cheap motel that Harper had rented for them to stay at for awhile. "Yippee, glad I got chosen from Commands litter of fucked up rats to be thrown back into the maze that is THEIR war. I can't believe this shit, one minute I'm fine-"

"Living in the streets dying from a simple cold." Harper added.

"-And the next I'm here, with a smart-ass commander." Grayson said, smiling devilishly at his new leader.

Harper sighed heavily. "Watch it, rookie! I'm your commanding officer, therefore I have full control over your orders and what you may or may not do."

Grayson looked the older man up and down before standing before him, two heads shorter then him, then, he yanked down the older soldiers pants and walked away, only stopping to look over his shoulder and smile evilly at Harper. "Lets get one thing straight, pal. Just because you saved my ass doesn't mean shit to me. The way you earn my trust and respect is by proving you can take a bullet, not drag a teenager out of a dumpster. Sure, you've got a heart, I'll give you that. But endurance, speed, bravery, respect? Ha! Look, I'll tell you when I think you're worth my respect, got it?" And with that, he disappeared into the bathroom.

Harper huffed, pulling up his pants with a light blush from being exposed. How dare a private to disrespect his commanding officer so fully, even as a rookie, Harper had learned to shut up and listen quickly. But this kid was a VETERAN? It was extremely hard to believe, especially for Harper. Sure, Grayson obviously held back and showed far more potential then most people Harper had met, but really, if Harper was going to train Grayson into a proper soldier... he'd need all of the patience he had.

He just hoped that this next guy was easier to deal with.

...

"Hello ma'am, welcome to McDonald's, how may I help you?" Vince Stone asked sadly as he stood at his post in the fast-food restaurant.

The lady sounded pissed off. "Look asshole, I ordered TWO milkshakes, I only got one! So unless you have another milkshake in there for my son, you're gonna have to deal with me!" She shouted, Vince could easily hear a child crying in the background.

"Miss, please calm down, we-" Vince started, but was cut off as another worked stepped in.

"Shut up, Vince. You can't talk to people like that." The guy yelled before walking away with the phone angrily.

Vince sighed, another awful day at work it seemed. Just as his shift ended, he grabbed his coat and hat, hiding his robotic parts, and left the food place to his old pick-up truck in the parking lot. It was an old thing, the red coloring was rusted and the radio was shit, but the driving was fine for Vince, to his thankfulness seeing as it was this or the subway. as the African American opened the car door, he nearly dropped his bag when he saw a small boy, looking very sickly and hurt, laying in his backseat with a small smirk directed at Vince. The man blinked a few times before easily picking the small boy up and placing him on the parking lot ground outside of his car.

"What the Hell, kid? Where's your ma?" Vince asked.

"Dead." The boy answered, before glaring at Vince. "Command needs you again, they need your help."

Upon hearing Command, Vince started to think it over. "Alright... what is it I'll be doing, it better not be anymore experiments.

The kid, Grayson, looked angry for a second, before it was replaced with self confidence. "Those projects ended after a freak accident one year ago... thank the lord."

Upon looking at Grayson more closely as the kid turned around, Stone caught sight of deathly looking scars up the boys spine. There was also a symbol marked on his shoulder, one that Stone recognized all too well. "Oh man... you were in there too, weren't you?"

Grayson nodded grimly. "Yeah... but that's another time, Stone. The army needs you now, well, I don't need help, but-" The soldier moved aside to show Harper approaching them, a man Stone knew from reports. "-He does, he needs a top percentage team... and you qualify as a top robotics engineer and builder."

Harper nodded in agreement as he came over to shake Stone's hand, smiling genuinely at the metal man. "I've heard alot about you, Stone. I hope to work well with you in the near future, whether it be missions or anything else."

"Its not a business meeting, you bitch." Grayson said from basking on Stone's hood of his car, glaring at the sky from behind a pair of sunglasses. "Besides, I want to get going. We only have one more girl to pick up before Command gives us our last two guys at Command. I just want to get out there and shoot already!"

"Is he always like that?" Stone asked, seeing how offended looking Harper was from the utter disrespect coming from his private.

"I wish I could say no." Harper whispered sadly as he watched the street rat fall asleep on the hood of Stone's car. "I only found him three days ago, dying from a fever/cold in an alleyway in Gotham City. I don't know the full story, but... this kids in deep. He's only fifteen for gods sake! But still, I can't turn my back on Command, its there orders."

Stone nodded in understanding. "Come on, lets get the fuck out of this shit stain of a city."


	3. Raven Wood Book Store

It was ten thirty AM in Jump City, currently, Grayson, Harper and Stone were eating at a small dinner in the large city. As usual, Grayson was eating everything on his plate and anything given to him, obviously starving each day it seemed like. And if he wasn't eating, he was hungry. Stone was also a bigger eater, eating everything on his plate almost as fast as Grayson. Harper just sat there in the booth beside Grayson with Stone across from them, staring at his new recruits. He had expected Grayson to be shy and quiet from reading his files, but obviously, he was wrong, the kid spoke his mind without second thoughts usually. He had also expected Stone to be a bit violent, not because he was black or anything, but because Stone had been raised by a very abusive father figure his whole life, and lost his mother when he was only thirteen in a lab accident.

Still, these soldiers held alot of potential. The other night, Harper had struggled to turn back on the power in their hotel room, but in the end, he had turned to Stone for assistance. the man had fixed it easily, the whole time explaining how it was being fixed and how to fix it himself if the need ever arose. Harper wondered how a genius like Stone had ended up working in a restaurant for college drop outs and crooks (No offense to anyone normal working there). It had taken only a few hours to Harper's surprise to have Stone start calling him sir or Sargent. However, it seemed that Grayson was still intent on calling Harper by Roy or Harper until his dying day... or gained respect for Harper, whichever came first.

Harper son began reading up on his last partner before he would go back to Command to get the last two soldiers, both of which were still actively in the army. This next person was a young woman, a Rachael Roth to be exact. She had grown up in Gotham, much like Grayson, but had joined the army early on in order to escape abuse at home. Her father had been a heavy drinker, always drinking and smoking all day long on the couch watching cop shows and detective dramas. Rachael's mother was a librarian... but had committed suicide after her husband had threatened to murder her and Rachael in a drunk rage. Sadly, to Rachael's dismay, she had seen the whole thing when she was only seven years old.

"We got our next soldier." Harper announced as Grayson and Stone finished off their third plate of food. "Come on, I already paid for us."

They nodded, following after the Sargent until they were in a busy street plaza, where a small book shop called Raven Wood was. "Here it is, our next member should be here. Be aware that she's only a medic, please." Harper reminded the other two recruits.

Grayson shrugged as he followed. "Why am I not surprised... wait... whats her name again?"

"Rachael Roth, she's nineteen like me,rookie." Harper explained as he entered.

Grayson suddenly went quiet, looking very nervous. "Um... maybe I should wait outside, me and Rachael have a bit of a... history." He seemed to say 'history' a bit slowly, like it was the only term he could use but didn't quite fit right in his mouth going out.

"What kind of history?" Stone asked the younger soldier, then smirked. "Is it one of THOSE histories?" He pointed to a porn magazine being held by a patron.

Grayson's face turned to the cooler of cherry red, he ducked his head, looking even MORE nervous then before. "I'm too young for that! Its not THAT kind of history, perv! She's just... a really good friend is all..."

Harper was about to ask why that was a bad thing, but was interrupted as a woman with long, violet hair and equally violet eyes entered, carrying several books in her arms before dropping them off on a counter. "Hello and welcome to- RICHARD JOHNATHAN GRAYSON!"

"Didn't know there was a store named after you, little man." Stone joked as he chuckled at Rachael's sudden mood swing.

Grayson yelped in surprise, ducking his head and seemingly trying to look very small behind Stone. "H-h-h-hi Rachael... its been awhile..."

"Where have you been!? I thought you had died in those experiments for months until I was told that you ran away from Command! Are you completely out of your mind... and look at yourself, you're a mess! Have you even seen Barbra yet, she's been worried sick about you, and so have I! I can't believe you Grayson, this is so typical of you, running off for months and then coming back to try and fix things but-" Rachael was cut off as Grayson ran forward, hugging the older girl.

"I'm sorry." Grayson whispered into her chest, seeing as he was far shorter then her thanks to his age. "I meant to come back but... those experiments... they broke me."

Rachael sighed, hugging back slowly. "You little idiot... why do you always guilt trip me? So, who are these two?" She asked, motioning to the two other men in the store.

Harper stepped forward, smiling at Rachael kindheartedly. "Hello, Roth. I'm Sargent Harper, pleased to met you. Command has sent me to recruit you for a... top secret mission. We need you for our troop. Think you can join... well, you don't have a choice, but I could always carry you away like I did with Grayson here when I found him knocked out in an alleyway."

"Its Dick and you know it!" Grayson complained, he hated being called Grayson, mostly because he didn't want to even BE in the stupid army anymore.

Rachael sent a death glare at Grayson. "We'll talk about that later, Dick." She promised darkly. "Fine, I'll go, only because I know that this kid is gonna get you all killed in seconds out there."

"It was one time, Rae! Let it go! I only accidentally killed TWO of our men, besides, they were in the way!"

"They were half a mile in front of you and you shot them perfectly in the head!" Rachael reminded the younger boy. "Besides, you're lucky you weren't court-marshaled for that.

Grayson sighed, looking away before nodding to himself, as if he was finally accepting something. "Can we go now? The sooner I get to the Command the faster I get my fight with Bruce over with... he's gonna kill me once he sees me like this."

"Man, you should wear something else if you're gonna meet Bruce Wayne... that IS who we're talking about, right?" Stone asked.

"Ha! I've met him buddy boy, know at least that. But hey, he won't kill you at least, you're not his biggest failure in his eyes. But still... just stay away from me when I re-meet him, alright? It didn't end well last time, I threaten to shoot him, he threatened to have me arrested for sneaking into the army, I threatened to tell everyone it was his idea all along for me to join the army... you get the picture." Grayson explained, he seemed a bit sadder then Harper had expected, as if he regretted what had happened.

Stone nodded in understanding. "Little man, just trust me when I say that I know how ya'h feel when it comes to parents hating you, ya'h hear?"

Grayson nodded in agreement. "Kay... lets go, I hate it here in Jump City, too many bad memories."

And so, they left, four soldiers, about to enter far bigger of a war then they ever imagined.

PLEASE COMMENT!


	4. The New Kids On The Block

It was midnight when the team arrived at Command, all worn out and tired from so much traveling. Roth was struggling to stay awake, Stone seemed fine other then the occasional yawn, Harper was wide awake and Grayson was out cold, laying face down on the floor as soon as they entered through the teleporter. Getting on one knee, Harper grabbed Grayson's shoulder, shaking him awake with a small smirk on the older soldiers face. The sleeping soldier groaned, curling up a bit as he still slept on, ignoring his team completely.

"(Sigh) Why must he always overwork himself?" Roth asked herself quietly, the poor boy had spent most of the night organizing paperwork for Harper from Command, claiming his way was faster, but everyone knew that Grayson was trying to be nice to Harper and assist him with the work. However... he had obviously been very tired afterwards.

"Wake up, rookie. Come on, I thought you wanted to see your pop before you left with the whole team to our new headquarters?" Harper reminded Grayson, once again shaking the knocked out boy, but harder.

Grayson growled loudly. "Shit man, I'm up! Jesus fucking Christ, get off of me!" He yelled, his voice sounded a bit less relaxed then usually was, probably because he just woke up. "God, I already hate it here."

"We're not even in Command, we're in the main lobby waiting to be let, we would be in Command by now if you'd be for alert." Harper explained to Grayson, lecturing him like a school teacher would to a late student.

"Whatever, asshole." Grayson muttered as he stood walking away.

"And watch your mouth around Command, I don't want you to be off putting towards them!" Harper added, smirking at Grayson at how angry the kid looked.

Grayson glared from Harper from over his thin shoulder, giving him the middle finger before checking into Command. However, there was obvious trouble at the gates. "What do you mean I'm not qualified!? You bitches drag me out of the grimes of Gotham to be told I'm not good enough!? Well fu-" He was cut off as Harper stepped in, pulling the young soldier back.

"I'm so sorry! He's crazy, I'll check us all in under the name Harper, please." Harper said as he yanked Grayson away, holding him back from trying to destroy the guards watching the gates.

"Sir, your to enter through the security gates, sir!" The guard said as he pointed at a very well guarded gate labeled 'Special Appointments'.

Roth smirked at the steel doors. "They had one of those doors back in the labs awhile back, but people went in there to be killed." She explained.

Stone simply stared at her. "You just have to make everything terrifying, don't you?"

Grayson nodded, smiling at Stone and Roth. "Yep, same shit from Roth as always."

"Once again, PLEASE watch your mouth in front of the Commanders, Grayson." Harper reminded his youngest trooper. "Come on now, lets go meet our new members."

"Listen up, chief, you're NOT my fucking mother, so quit acting like you're such hot shit around here. You may be a goddamn Sargent, but I'm still miles ahead of you when it comes to real war! I've seen the bullshit, the messed up experiments that wake you up screaming for someone to murder you, I've seen and been through that! One of my best circus buddies joined me in the military a year ago, he seemed fine at first... but then.. he committed suicide after losing it. He had gone through the experiments too, it killed the bastard. So believe me when i say that you've seen NOTHING compared to real war, the wars in the labs AND on the battle front." Grayson yelled, anyone within earshot was now crowding around the two opposing men, waiting to see fists fly or words be said.

Harper breathed a few times, trying to keep calm. "As your commanding officer I-"

"Oh don't give me that SHIT!" Grayson yelled, glaring daggers at the older man with such hatred in his baby blues, it was terrifying. "You're NO ONES commanding officer, bitch! No one is in charge of me, last time I trusted someone, they signed me up for being a lab rat, promising that everything would be fine. They told me I was SHIT to the world, I was WORTHLESS! So, what better way to use me then be a fucking lab rat!?"

"Private Grayson!" Harper snapped, finally losing what little patience he had left. "Stop acting like a fucking man, rookie. You're nothing but a kid still, you're only fifteen for gods sake! So don't you even THINK of coming into the Command center and talking to me like I'm a fucking pushover, cause I'm not! I will put you in your goddamn place, rookie. So you better shape up, or I'll do it myself, you hear me!?"

Grayson was dead quiet, hardly looking into Harper's eyes before sending him a wicked smile. "I knew it, just push the right buttons I guess. So, you have a backbone, perfect. You're getting closer... Sargent." And with that, the rookie entered the Command Special Appointments teleporter and was out of sight.

As soon as he was gone, the room filled with talking from every direction.

"Wasn't that Richard Grayson, the test rat?"

"I can't believe it, NO ONE tries to get under Grayson's skin like that, not even agent Gordon, and that was his girlfriend!"

"Wow. So I guess its possible, looks like that Harper guys gotten farther then ANYONE in training Grayson... except of course... you know who."

"Yeah, that last dude was a REAL piece of fucking work. I heard that Grayson was raised by him for years before sneaking into the army, apparently his whole family was murdered when he was only six years old, crazy, right?"

Stone shook his head as he cleared his mind, seeing that his whole team was tense. "Come on, y'all. Lets go find the rookie and our other new recruits." He suggested, pushing the group away from the crowd.

Just before the transporter closed, Harper heard something he'd NEVER forget.

"So, how long do you think Harper has until Grayson tries to commit suicide under HIS watch?"

...

To the teams surprise, Grayson was already talking with two people who they could only assume were their new teammates. The first person was a young man, looking to be around seventeen or eight. He had short, blonde hair with green highlights and bright green eyes that glittered with mystery and exctement. The next erson was a girl, and alien who looked to be Harper and Roth's age at least. She had long, red hair that flowed like waves and glowing, green eyes. her skin was orange, like a tan gone wrong, yet it made her look absolutely breath taking. She had on purple armor while the boy had on standard, green rookie armor. A tag on the boys shirt read 'Logan' in big, bold letters. The girl had dog tags that read 'Anders' in big, bold letters, the tags were attached to a necklace around her neck that also had a charm shaped like a green star on fire.

"Oh hey." Grayson said as he noticed the team behind him, he shoved Logan and anders a bit closer. "These are our new tammates, rookies."

"Hey, you're the only one getting called rookie, rookie." Harper said with such a wide smirk that Grayson was tempted to kick the smug mans teeth in. "I'm Harper, troops. So, what are your full names?"

Logan looked a tad nervous. "Sir, I'm Garfield Mark Logan, sir." He said professionally. "Sir, I'm from... Africa."

Harper shrugged, he had been hearing thateople were acting very racist towards white people born in Africa lately who signed up for the World Army, he personally didn't care either way. "Cool. And you don't need to call me 'sir', I'm Harper, or you can call me Sargent."

"Got it... Sargent." Logan said carefully.

"Your name is really Garfield?" Roth asked as she gave Logan a blank stare.

"Well why is your name-" Logan read Roth's tag. "-Roth? What kind of name is that?"

"Not my fathers." Roth answered simply. "And don't ask, Logan."

"I am princess Kori Anders, the princess of the planet Tamaran... well, I once was of that life. My kakapas were the, how you say, murdered in war of blood and evil. My home was of the death, now I am of the soldier, to protect my new home of homes." Anders explained happily, smiling at the group.

Stone smiled kindly at Anders, patting her back. "Man, you are one tight girl, you are gonna fit in great, man."

Harper nodded. "Alright team, lets go get our orders from Command." He announced as he led the group down the hallway.

"And guess what, you all get front row seats to watch me fight with Wayne." Grayson said sadly he sounded almost scared to go in there. "If you want... I'll stay here."

"Sorry, Grayson. Command wants to see everyone." Harper explained as he opened the door to the conference room. "What could go wrong?"

"Famous last words." Grayson mumbled under his breath as he followed.

TO BE CONTINUED!!! Please comment!


	5. Tension And Our Battle Ship

The whole group of troopers entered quietly into the conference room, soon facing Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyles. They looked so serious, staring at the six soldiers with interest, mild anger, curiosity and stress inducing pressure that sent shivers up the troopers spines. However, the silent and cold stand off between Grayson and Wayne was interesting, the two simply stared at each other. One was searching for forgiveness and respect while the other searched for any honesty or love left in the others icy blue eyes. Grayson suddenly looked away, the slightest sign of tears brimming in his bright blues as he could no longer stand the sight of the man he once trusted with his life, now against him and possibly hating what the boy had become. Roth soon cleared her throat, clearing the atmosphere.

"We've called you all here for a special mission that can only be completely with soldiers of your... strange qualities." Kent said sternly, emphasizing strange as he stared at the soldiers that he knew were still children underneath those clothes. "Although it is not exactly appreciated by the government to be calling children and young adults that have yet to learn everything onto the field, we have little choice of the matter. As many of you still with us knows, the tide is turning in this war and our enemies are destroying us more and more everyday. We're running out of options, if we don't re-turn the tide and stop these foes... all hope is lost."

"Why us?" Roth asked in monotone. "Why are we being chosen of all of the armies available soldiers?"

Selina sighed heavily as numerous files, all of which were the soldiers in the rooms personal files, popped up on the screen she spoke through seeing as none of them were in person. "You were all specially chosen to completely the missions that will be given to you. Rachael Roth was chosen for her enhanced medical skills and ability to learn new techniques and medical equipment quickly. Vince Stone was chosen for his extraordinary skills in robotics making and repairs to any vehicle he finds out on the field. Roy Harper was chosen for his intense leadership role and accuracy with olden time weapons such as arrows and spears. Garfield Logan was chosen for his ability to easily get other species or armies to listen to reason and his compassion to his teammates. Kori Anders was chosen for her ability to learn any language just by kissing the host and amazing powers."

"And me?" Grayson asked.

"We had to choose another, extra, soldier for the mission. You were chosen at random to assist as earths normal human in a sense, you'll simply fight with regular weapons and place your own suggestions into conversations of battle plans in order to find out what a normal human might do in a war situation." Bruce Wayne explained, glaring slightly at Grayson.

Grayson had never looked so... depressed, angry, saddened? It was hard to tell what he was thinking. "So you're saying... I'm just being thrown into war as an experiment!?" His tone turned dark and deadly, as if he could kill someone just with words alone. "You dragged me out of the streets, promising a new start with new opportunities, just to tell me that I'm more or less an extension!?"

"You should be grateful, alot of people would kill to be in your position." Bruce answered simply, not at all fazed by the orphans outburst.

"I thought we all learned how bad your little 'Experiments' go from last time, but obviously, you haven't learned shit! If you need me, I'll be waiting in the hallway, talk to me when you actually care about me." With that, Grayson stormed off, tears threatening to fall at any moment.

Harper sighed, he really only had two choices in his head. Either go after Grayson to calm him down, but in the process disrespect Command, or stay, but lose Grayson's trust in him. "What are our orders?" He finally asked Command.

"Your orders are simple, Sargent Harper. You and your team will be given a ship to travel from place to place in, your first destination is Pulse, a planet three days away from here. When you get there, you'll set up a base in the forest of that planet and wait for further orders, understood?" Kent asked as he finished explaining.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Harper said, saluting before leaving with his crew not very far behind.

Before they could leave though, Logan gave Wayne a sad/angry look. "You could have said it nicely to him, he is your son after all."

"You're dismissed, Private Logan." Wayne ordered, cutting off transmission.

As soon as the group left the conference room, they saw Grayson leaning on the wall by the door, arms crossed, shoulders slumped and tears forming in bright, blue eyes. He looked ready to kill someone, or punch something, the team personally hoped for the later. As they entered the equipment room, Harper pulled out a sheet of paper that had been given to him to use. Written on it was all of the supplies the troops would need. Each would be given two suits of full body armor, ten boxes of food per person (They could get more in-between missions), twenty blankets, twenty pillows, two boxes of personal health care products per person, two sets of army boots per person and an extra box per person to carry any personal items they might want to bring along with them. They grabbed their boxes, hurrying to their new ship as they left the storage room.

The ship was a real beauty. It was shaped like a giant T, with plenty of space inside and outside of it for use. The ship itself was painted orange and blue with the army's symbol embedded onto its side, a large JLA symbol standing for Justice League Army. As they piled on, the team exchanged a few looks, ready to leave at any moment.

"Anyone want to get off and tell their friends that we're leaving?" Harper asked as he got into the captains seat with Stone at the guiding systems (AKA, he was driving).

No one spoke up for a long time. "Alright... anyone wanna get off now? If you leave, then you're out of this army." Harper explained.

"I WOULD do that, but Wayne will track me down and kill me for that shit." Grayson explained fluidly. "Can we go now, I wanna get out of here before Wayne finds another reason to hate me."

Harper nodded in understanding. "Alright... here we go, lets go win this war!"

Everyone, even Grayson, cheered in response as several dorky jokes and references flowed in response to Harper's words. Then...

They were gone.

A/N: Please oh please comment, I want to know what you all think! The next update SHOULD be soon, but I'm spending Christmas with my family and am kind of busy for that. Also, before anyone asks, yes, this is VERY MUCH like Red Vs Blue and will have moments and even elements from Red Vs Blue (Such as the FreeLancer program, but in this its called the Titan Program and won't be gotten into until later on and is different in certain ways then the FreeLancer program). Also, Grayson IS the main character in this, so yeah, please comment as you wish! PS, I'll try to write Roth better, I'm a bit disappointed in how she is right now, I'll make her a bit more quiet and scary I think. Please comment!


	6. Space Squids And Cherry Smoothies

\---Day 1---

The ship ride would be a full week for the team, but the ship was so big that no one really minded too much. Roth sighed deeply as, once again, private Logan was checking her out. Sure, she had dated people before, but a guy like Logan... not likely. This kid was definitely... something special. But not in a bad way, Roth could just feel the potential and abilities running off of Logan from a mile away. As she sat cross legged in the medical bay, trying to meditate, Logan came once again wandering in, sitting next to her on the med table she sat on with a wide smile on the blondes face.

"Hey Roth, what ya'h doing?" Logan asked as he scotched just a tad closer to the beautiful woman.

"Meditating." Roth said flatly, not even looking at Logan as she tried to escape the conscious world and reenter her subconscious.

Logan nodded, awkwardly squirming as he tried to think of something to say. "Mediating? Yeah, I do that all the time, to get the veins going, ya'h know?"

Roth sighed louder, hoping Logan would get the message. "Fuck off, Logan."

With that, Logan walked away, sulking greatly as he left. He had never been good at asking hot girls out, especially before he joined the army. At least as a soldier he had a chance to woo a girl, but still, nothing had yet to blossom from that endeavor. But Logan hadn't joined the army for the idea of getting girls to love him, no, he joined to protect earth and travel space. Becoming a space marine was hard as Hell, but in the end, Logan had just barely passed his tests and gotten into the space marine core. Even better, now he was joining for a top secret and high security mission requested by Command itself, telling him to travel all of the Milky Way and farther with a team of specially trained soldiers. And as if his luck couldn't get better, Logan was surrounded by people who understood him... for the most part. He liked Stone, the man was like an older brother and clearly knew a thing or two about robots and machines. Harper was pretty cool too, but Logan made sure not to seem too clingy to him, after all, Harper WAS his commanding officer.

Anders was also very interesting, she seemed very bubbly and kind, showing great kindness to everyone on the ship. Roth was beautiful and sweet on the inside, but the girl was clearly hiding alot more under the neat and powerful composure. However, Logan didn't know ANYTHING about Grayson for the most part. The younger boy was clearly a bit of a jackass, but Logan would be pissed too if his adoptive father was a jerk like Wayne, but Logan sensed something bigger going on with Wayne then what he was showing. But still, Logan loved being on this adventure, it was a big universe, and he was destined to explore it all. He would discover so much... he just hoped that everything would go well.

\---Day 1---

Harper walked around the ship with mild interest as his thoughts drifted. He was so confused and worried, as Grayson's words still stung in his mind. He was right, he had no right to be their commander, why had Command even chosen Harper for this? Still... Harper sensed that no one else really disrespected him like Grayson would. Sure, Logan seemed to be a real prankster and tested his boundaries, and Stone also seemed to test Harper at times, but Grayson showed little to no respect what-so-ever for Harper. At the very least, he was calling Harper by Sargent more, but still, it was clear that he didn't trust or like him that much. One thing that puzzled Harper above all else was all of the talk about test rats, and that Grayson had apparently been one for some time. The so-called tests appeared to be over, but still, Harper had heard more then a few things being thrown over his head about testings. As Harper finally found himself in the hallways of the ship overlooking space, he stopped, watching with cloudy eyes as he saw thousands of stars, planets and meteors shimmering in the darkness. And there was earth, miles and miles away until it was just a tiny, blue dot in the distance. Suddenly, Harper felt something rub against his side, he turned to his side, only to see Grayson arm to arm with him, watching the darkness beside him with wide and curious eyes.

"Its beautiful, isn't it?" Grayson asked Harper as he stared at space. "All of those stars are so far away... we don't even know which ones have burned out. For all we know, we could really be alone in the space of stars, being the only ones still seeming to burn besides the sun."

"The earth doesn't burn though." Harper pointed out. "And Anders is an alien and all, so she shows that we're not alone. Besides, aren't we at war with aliens at the moment?"

Grayson nodded, still staring at the darkness of space when light green, pink and blue beings popped out of nowhere. "Holy shit." He whispered as millions upon millions of space like squids flew through space, their many colors flooding out the black. "What are they?"

"Space squids." Harper whispered, watching as they passed by the ship, their colors showing a rainbow like scene as they danced and swerved through the glistening space around themselves. "They're migrating I think, General Kent had warned me about them. This is odd, they usually don't come so close to the Milky Way. But we shouldn't worry about it, they're not aggressive, in fact, they're quite affectionate if Roth's books were right."

"They're really cool... wonder where they're going..." Grayson responded, placing his hand on the cool glass as one, purple squid that looked especially small placed a gentle tentacle on the glass on the other side of Grayson's hand. "I think I know how fish in tanks feel now... hey, are there any of these things on Pulse by any chance?"

Harper pulled out a holographic tablet, scrolling through the information on Pulse before smiling softly. "Yep, but not many since they're migrating right now."

"Oh." Grayson replied, still staring at the seemingly endless space. "Guess we'll see more soon enough."

Harper gave Grayson a sad yet hopeful gaze, he could see the fourteen ear old who had been used as a test rat and now the fifteen year old who was hiding behind a mask of fears and anger. "Yeah... I guess we'll see alot when we get there." He agreed, still watching the beautiful boy before him.

\---Day 1---

It was around two or three hours later as Stone dug through the seemingly endless food that Command had give them all, looking for ingredients for a nice drink for the team. It was very easy to sense the added tension on the ship, but Stone ignored it all, deciding he would rather play dumb and enjoy his life rather then drown himself in sorrow. As a man once said, if you're depressed then you're living in the past, if you're anxious then you're living in the future and if you're clear of pain then you're living in the present. As Stone finally found the items he was searching for, he threw them all onto a counter in the large and expansive kitchen he was standing. Two cups of sweet cherries, 1 1/2 cups of ice, 11/2 cups of fat free yogurt, and 1/4 cup of honey. All in all, they were all Stone needed along with a blender to make some delicious cherry smoothies. As he mixed everything together and threw it in the blender, Anders flew in (Yeah, she can fly) and joined the mans side with a sweet smile on her face.

"Why hello, friend Stone." Anders said as she hovered over the mans shoulder. "May I ask of what you are preparing in the blending object of cooking?"

Stone smirked at the woman, she was truly gorgeous with her long, red hair and dazzling green eyes. "Cherry smoothies, they're gonna be crazy great!" He explained happily.

The alien girl smiled, interested by this strange item known as a cherry smoothie. "May I assist in the making of the smoothies?" Anders asked.

"Course, girl!" Stone replied, handing her a cherry. "Now, what we gotta do is..."

...

So, gathered around thirty minutes later was the whole crew, all smiling and joking around before Harper stood on a table, holding up his smoothie. "To saving this universe and protecting the people!" He yelled.

"To saving those who are unable to save themselves!" Cried Anders.

"To creating what no man has dared to dream of!" Stone added.

Logan smirked at Roth. "To finding that special person in our lives!"

Roth glared at Logan. "To not killing our allies... if we can help it."

"To proving to Wayne that we're not who we're judged to be! We are not the product of an army, we are the product of a generation bent on protecting the innocent and joining the ranks of heroism! To honor and protect, we are space marines!" Grayson screamed, downing his smoothies in one gulp.

To be continued!!!

Next time on The Best Of Times: When a group of rouge soldiers attack the ship, the team must split into groups in an attempt to stop them from taking the ships core and killing them all. Will Harper and Stone be able to defuse a bomb? Will Roth be able to trust Anders? Can Logan try NOT to accidentally kill Grayson?


End file.
